Bradley Cooper To Star As Duke In Paramount’s New ‘G.I. Joe’ Feature Directed By Danny McBride

Bradley Cooper has signed on to headline Paramount Pictures’ upcoming live-action G.I. Joe feature film, taking on the iconic role of team commander Duke. Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones, Vice Principals) is set to direct and co-wrote the screenplay alongside longtime collaborators Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri.

The project marks a significant franchise priority for Paramount Skydance under CEO David Ellison, who has accelerated development on legacy Hasbro and studio intellectual properties alongside active pipelines for Star Trek and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Cooper inherits the role of Duke from Channing Tatum, who previously portrayed the military leader in Paramount’s 2009 entry G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its 2013 follow-up G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

Specific narrative details remain under wraps, but the film draws from the 1980s iteration of the Hasbro property popularized by Marvel Comics and Sunbow’s animated series, which established the elite commando unit’s high-tech conflict against the global terrorist syndicate Cobra.

Producing the feature are Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, and Zev Foreman on behalf of Hasbro Entertainment.

The attachment marks a rare commercial franchise lead for Cooper, a twelve-time Academy Award nominee who recently directed, co-wrote, and headlined the marital dramedy Is This Thing On? following his Oscar-nominated work on 2023’s Maestro. Known in the comic-book sphere for voicing Rocket Raccoon across Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Cooper also made a cameo appearance in James Gunn’s Superman and previously shared the screen with McBride during a guest appearance on HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones.